


The Journey of Oliver Queen and Zari Tomaz: Phase 1 (Season 5)

by Adas_Legend



Series: The Journey of Oliver Queen and Zari Tomaz [1]
Category: Arrow (TV 2012), DC's Legends of Tomorrow (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Angst, Comfort, F/M, Friendship, Kissing, Relationship(s), Superheroes
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-11-13
Updated: 2019-11-28
Packaged: 2021-01-29 20:57:08
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 5,430
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21416560
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Adas_Legend/pseuds/Adas_Legend
Summary: How would it be if Zari was not from the future but instead from the present? What if she'd been a member of Team Arrow before she joined the Legends?Oliver and Zari make a journey together to help each other grow. It includes pain, bonding, a brief romance, and a fight against a very crazy Prometheus.In short, a rewrite of key events of season 5 with Zari incorporated into them.
Relationships: Felicity Smoak & Zari Tomaz, Oliver Queen/Felicity Smoak, Oliver Queen/Zari Tomaz
Series: The Journey of Oliver Queen and Zari Tomaz [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1543909
Comments: 8
Kudos: 11





	1. First Encounter

**Author's Note:**

> Oliver first meets Zari... and instantly finds a connection

Oliver's admittedly seen many crazy things since he started his crusade in Star City four years ago. He's seen super-soldiers, people rising from the dead, and a man running as fast as lightning, so he's not too shocked to hear about a windstorm tearing through a small section of the Glades. But Felicity seems rather taken back by all of it.

“Tornadoes in the Glades? I didn't know that Star City had a tornado season. Well first time for everything right?” Felicity babbles, sifting through the SCPD incident report on her computer in the Team Arrow bunker. Oliver never truly gets bored of Felicity's motor mouth, but sometimes she can get a bit off-topic. He needs to get her back on track.

“Felicity! What else do we know about this 'tornado'?”

Munching on her Big Belly Burger, Felicity replies, “Well, the area of the tornado is a major turf for the Halcones. In fact, word on the street is that an arms deal was supposed to go down last night right at ground zero. But instead-”

“We get 9 baddies in Starling General with broken knees, collarbones and ribcages,” Oliver finishes. “Clearly this looks like the work of a meta. You reached out to Cisco?”

Felicity smiles and says, “Way ahead of you. Our all-star friends at Star Labs claims this M.O. doesn't match up with any of the metahumans they've dealt with. And none of the unaccounted folks from the night of the particle accelerator explosion have any ties to the Glades.”

Oliver ponders to himself. This incident clearly belongs to the kinds of impossible phenomena that Barry is so used to dealing with. And he doesn't know of many other ways a person could blow away a group of heavily armed mobsters. That is, unless someone invented an insanely powerful hair dryer and learned to weaponize it. He needs to approach this from a different angle. Trying to predict their culprit's next attack location might help stop another tornado.

“Can you find out anything about the injured arms dealers' contacts? Anything to suggest where a Halcones rival might hit next?”

Felicity frowns and quips back, “Well that's where things get interesting. The weapons that were at the meet were clearly manufactured by the arms contractor McLennan-Starkwood, so I hacked into their servers right away. Interesting thing is: someone already got in there before me. Accessed the company's financial transactions over the last eight years. And none of the records they looked at are remotely connected to gang-bangers. We're looking at high-dollar transactions in Kahndaq, Burehdunia, and Kaznia”.

A sabotaged deal with McLennan-Starkwood's merchandise and a hack on their servers this close together cannot be a coincidence. Someone's clearly on a vendetta against the company. Oliver clearly thinks that that is a good place to start the investigation. Maybe their mysterious tornado meta/wizard/whatever will stage another attack on the company. Any and all major locations related to MS are fair game. The rest of the team (Diggle, Rene, Curtis, Evelyn, and Rory) walk in the bunker, prepared for the mission. It's time to delegate responsibilities and cover ground.

“Okay, looks like our target's looking to take down McLennan-Starkwood. I think it's best we split up to cover more ground. Rene and Evelyn, you two go to McLennan-Starkwood's biggest warehouse in the north part of town. Curtis and Rory, I think you should keep an eye on the MS HQ that's near Palmer Tech. I think there's a chance our perp might head there to get more evidence against the company. Hopefully, Curtis can get it before any bodies get dropped. And I think John and I should stake out the MS CEO's place in case our perp decides to make things really personal.”

Rene chirps in, “You sure we want to be hunting down this dude? Coz from where I'm standing, he deserves a medal, taking on those MS scumbags.”

Oliver gives Rene a dirty look which automatically shuts him up. Rene means well when it comes to fighting corporate injustice, but the team's job is to protect everyone in the city, regardless of how dirty they are.

“Doesn't matter. People are getting hurt, and we need to stop this guy.... or girl,” Oliver snaps back, hastily adding the last bit after getting a disapproving frown from Felicity. She would hate for him to sound sexist. It's time to say those two words which Curtis always gets hyped up about.

“Suit up!”

An hour later, Oliver and Diggle are outside the mansion of Alan Hodges, the CEO of McLennan-Starkwood. As the two stake out the house, Oliver feels a strange sense of déjàvu. This case of Hodges arming dictators and terrorists around the world feels awfully similar to all the exploits of the names on his father's list four years ago. If he'd found out about Hodges back then, he would have likely put in an arrow in him like he did to Justin Claybourne. Whoever this new vigilante is, they seem to be a member of his tribe.

John interjects, “You have any idea how we're supposed to deal with someone who can create a tornado? This sounds more like Barry's kind of thing.”

“Well hopefully we can catch them off guard before they can do their thing. How about you circle around the back and I'll lock pick my way through the front? We breach as soon as we see some funny business,” Oliver replies.

“Copy that.”

It doesn't take too long for trouble to strike. Roughly about five minutes after they split, a gust of air zooms towards the Hodges mansion. Oliver sees a small figure in there, but he can't make out much else. The perp crashes in through one of the front windows, and Oliver hears a loud scream.

“Spartan, engage!” Oliver yells as he charges in the door. Two security guards immediately fire at him with the submachine guns. Oliver dodges their fire and takes them down with two neatly aimed arrows to the shoulder. He encounters some more resistance as he runs up to Hodges' bedroom, but it's nothing some tae kwon do and arrows can't deal with.

When he and Diggle finally barge in, a horrifying image meets their eyes. Hodges is lying in the corner, covered in blood and gasping in horror. The entire room's furniture is in a broken mess; it's clear that he's been tossed around like a doll. Standing over him is a figure dressed all in black with a balaclava over their head.

“You killed my family!” a female voice cries out from under the mask.

“K-killed? I don't know what you're talking about!” Hodges stammers, cowering back against the wall. Things look like they're about to get out of hand.

Oliver draws an arrow from his quiver and points it at the attacker, shouting, “Stand down!”

The perp turns around and touches a red amulet around her neck. The amulet glows, and she raises out her hands. Air gushes out and pushes Oliver and Diggle against the wall. Diggle passes out at once, but Oliver isn't going down that easily. He gets up, braving his way through the gust of wind pushing against him.

As soon as Oliver reaches his opponent, he raises his leg and lashes out with a push kick. The assailant loses her focus and stumbles back. She charges back and swings her fist at him. He dodges that punch and then another. On the third punch, Oliver grabs the attacker's wrist and swings her over his right shoulder onto the ground. He hears her cry out in pain from under the mask.

He pulls off the balaclava to get a better look. In front of him is a beautiful young Middle Eastern woman close to thirty with black hair and soft skin. Her eyes are full of anger and pain, and Oliver holds back for a second. He can swear that he's had that same expression many times before in the past when he has reflected on the five hellish years he spent away from Star City. The woman turns to her side, and Oliver follows her gaze. Hodges is gone, clearly having escaped in the chaos.

“You let him get away!” the girl snarls.

“You were about to kill him. I can't let you do that,” comes the reply from Oliver.

“Why? Cause you're the city's designated superhero?”

Oliver hesitates two seconds after the retort. He's gotten this armor-piercing question several times in the past from other angry vigilantes. He's dealt with them before and hopefully he can deal with this girl too.

“I know where you're coming from. You're angry. Angry at what he's done. But killing him won't make your anger go away, and I don't think it's what you want,” Oliver implores.

The girl's face contorts in rage, and she spits back, “You know nothing about what I want.” And with those words, she reaches out to her amulet again. The red glow returns, and before Oliver knows it, he's blown to the other side of the room next to Diggle. When he gets back up, the girl's gone. Luckily Oliver installed a mini-cam on his suit last week, so Felicity can probably get an ID on the perp. Hopefully, if they know who she is, they can help her out.

“Say hello to Zari Tarazi, now known as Zari Tomaz,” Felicity announces once she's gone through the mini-cam footage in the bunker. ID'ing the target was quicker than expected.

“What do we know about her?” Oliver asks.

“Born in Kahndaq, came to the States to get her bachelor's and master's in Computer Science from MIT. She returned to Kahndaq and worked there until about three years ago when she got on the government's radar for leaking intel about prison-abuse in the country.”

“Sounds like a clone of you,” Oliver quips with a smile. The similarities with Felicity are uncanny.

“Yeah, well things got nasty from there. The police tried arresting her, and she got away. But the rest of her family? Not so lucky. Both of her parents and her brother got killed during the escape attempt. She changed her surname, fled here, and applied for refugee status, and she's been in Star City ever since.”

Oliver's heart sinks, and he shuts his eyes in painful sorrow. Losing one's family is an experience he can relate to far too well, and it never stops breaking his heart when he sees it happening to someone else. And Zari's stand against the Kahndaqi system is not unlike his vendetta against Tempest all those years ago. And her targeting McLennan-Starkwood makes sense too, seeing as they basically armed the government which slaughtered her family. His crusade from four years ago took him down a very dark path, and he can nearly see Zari going down that same trajectory too.

“Do you have an address for her?” Oliver asks.

“Already on it. What do you have in mind?” Felicity replies.

“I'm thinking that maybe I can reach out to her. Get her to stand down.”

“Really? Cause from where I'm sitting, it looks like Zari really doesn't want a babysitter.”

Oliver sighs, “Look, I've been where she is now. Maybe if I open up to her, I can help save her from the darkness.”

Felicity smiles and says, “Hey, I hear you. And as crazy it sounds, I think you're on to something. I'm coming too. Maybe the former Goth rebel in me can reach out to our little rebel.”

As Felicity types furiously away to get a location on Zari, Oliver ponders on how often he's come across the angry soul lashing out at the world. He's tried to rein in others' darkness. It worked with Roy Harper and Evelyn Sharp, not so well with Helena Bertinelli. But he has to hope that Zari can be reasoned with. He has to believe he can save her.


	2. The Sales Pitch

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Oliver and Felicity try to reach out to Zari, a soul in pain. Can they get through?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here's the story of Zari joining Team Arrow, with Oliver and Felicity's help. This is the start of her journey to becoming a hero. Please let me know what you think in the comments section!

Finding Zari turns out to not be so hard, to Oliver's surprise. Felicity easily tracks her down to a modest tenement in the Glades, and they rush over there as fast as possible. Now that Zari knows she's in the Green Arrow's sights, she might try to skip town.

“Maybe you ought to stay outside in case this goes south,” Oliver urges Felicity as they pull up to Zari's place in his motorcycle.

“Wait, wasn't this all about me reaching out to her as a sister in arms?” Felicity retorts with an astonished face.

“Well, we don't know how willing Zari will be to listen to us, so I think we need to be careful on this one,” Oliver replies.

“Alright. Watch out for yourself.”

Oliver nods and slowly advances towards the door of Zari's place. It's locked, but that's never stopped him from getting into a place. Oliver quickly grabs an explosive arrow from his quiver and fires at the door. The door blasts open at once, and Oliver charges in, ready to face any trouble.

Zari is right in the living room, bags packed and ready to leave. Her eyes fall on Oliver, and her face contorts into a glare. She reaches for her amulet, but before she can touch it, Oliver tackles her to the ground. No way he's letting her blast him this time around. He presses his arm against her neck and uses his free hand to pull of the amulet immediately. Time to have a calm conversation.

“I'm here to talk!” Oliver yells out.

Zari struggles to get free of Oliver's grip and snaps, “Says the guy pinning a girl to the ground! You here to finish what you started back there?”

Oliver slowly lets go of Zari but still holds on to Zari's amulet. He helps Zari up and looks into her eyes. He sees anger, mistrust, fear. Considering that he's got one of the most terrifying reputations in Star City, she might have a point in being afraid of him. He just needs to earn her trust.

“I don't want to hurt you, Zari,” he says softly.

“So you're here to arrest me?” Zari asked. Her body is all tensed up, her inner walls standing strong.

“I've read all about you. I know what happened to your family, the role Alan Hodges played in it. But trust me, killing him won't bring them back. And neither will it bring you peace.”

Zari crosses her arms and replies, “You know, that's rich coming from the guy who jammed an arrow through the gut of the man who murdered Laurel Lance.”

Oliver shudders. Killing Damien Darhk to avenge Laurel was definitely not one of his high points. It was a relapse into darkness that he wished never happened, and it sure doesn't help in his appeal to Zari to drop her homicidal crusade.

Oliver answers, “That is something I will have to live with every day of my life. Laurel wouldn't have approved of it. And neither would your parents or your brother want you to become a killer.”

The second her family's mentioned, Zari's eyes flare up, and out goes the guarded, snarky persona she's putting up until now. She walks up to Oliver and puts herself right in his face.

“You keep them out of this! You don't know my family. You don't know what they would or wouldn't have wanted,” Zari cries out, her voice shaking. Oliver can tell that he's hit a nerve with this girl. Right now, he doesn't see the ruthless vigilante who tried ending Alan Hodges's life three hours ago. He sees a lonely girl aching from losing everything she's held dear. He just needs to connect with her softer side to get her to stand down.

He relaxes his body and says, “You're right. I didn't know them. But what I do know is that they would have wanted you to live your life. To be happy. To move on. And if you kill Alan Hodges, that's never going to happen. After the first kill, the next ones become easier and easier. And soon all that remains is darkness. If you continue down this path, you're going to become exactly what your parents would have hated.”

A few moments of silence pass by. Zari takes a moment to process those words, her lips quivering. Tears form in her eyes, and an expression of sheer confusion fills her face.

“I-I don't know what to do. I have to do something. Someone has to pay,” she stammers.

Oliver whispers, “Alan Hodges didn't kill your parents.”

“Yeah, but he put the weapons in the hands of the people who did!” Zari bursts out. “If it weren't for his support, my country wouldn't be the hell it is today. I wouldn't be hiding and fighting in the shadows, and my family would still be alive. There has to be some justice.”

Zari seems resolute in her decision to continue her crusade. While she's definitely in the space to emotionally connect, Oliver's still not sure if he can get her to stand down. He hears footsteps behind him; he knows it's Felicity. Zari may not trust a man armed to the teeth who looks like he could shoot her down any moment, but maybe she can trust a kinder face. Felicity looks a bit nervous as she approaches Zari, but as she begins to speak, Oliver feels the confidence and warmth which won over his heart all those years ago.

Felicity walks forward with a cheery smile, exclaiming, “Hi! I know now's really not a good time for cutesy introductions, but I thought I might join the whole 'stop killing people' party. I'm-”

“Felicity Smoak, yeah I know. So the failed former CEO of Palmer Tech is working with the Green Arrow,” Zari snaps with a glare, and now the tough armor is back on. “No wonder this city's going to the dogs. If you're trying to get me to turn myself in, you're really not helping your case.”

Felicity seems unfazed and continues, “Hey look. We're not trying to take you in. We want to help you. Believe it or not, I was once a lot like you. Young, lonely, angry at the system. I thought I could make a difference by tearing everything down. But I was wrong.

“Now, I can't lie and say that I've been through exactly what you've been through. But I do know this: you can't do this alone. You need someone who's got your back. Someone who'll stand by your side and keep you from plunging into the darkness. A shoulder to cry on. We can help you with that. We can help you take down Hodges.”

As Felicity makes her big speech, Oliver can see Zari slowly melting again. The emotion is rushing into her face; her eyes are filling with tears again. She looks down, deep in thought.

“How do I know I can trust you? I trusted people who I thought were my friends, and it got my family killed. How do I know that you guys won't just snuff me out once you're done with me?”

Now is the time to really win Zari's trust; all she needs is a gesture of good faith. After a few moments of deep thought, Oliver makes his next move. He switches off his voice modulator, pulls down his hood, and takes off his mask. Zari mouth drops wide open as her eyes traverse his his true face, and she gapes at Oliver at disbelief. Oliver then makes his pitch.

“I'm going to do something that I don't do often. I'm choosing to make a gamble that you won't rat me out. Because deep down, I think you know that we're not so different. We've both lost people. We both want to save this city. And I think that we can help each other. Together we can make a difference. I'm asking you to make a gamble too. Trust us. Help us save this city.”

Zari blinks a couple of times and stammers in disbelief, “W-wow. That's a big step.” She takes a deep breath, wipes her tears, and continues, “So the Green Arrow, also the mayor and Star City's former playboy of the year, is making a pitch to me to trust him and join his superhero gang. You must be really crazy.”

Oliver chuckles and replies, “I've been called worse.”

Zari giggles too, and now come to think of it, she has a really nice laugh. Oliver can feel the hope and trust seeping into every fiber of her being.

“So you really think we could make a good team?” Zari asks.

Oliver nods his head and replies, “I do. We can help you take down Hodges. We can help you heal. We can give you a new life. All you have to do is take a plunge.” And with those words, Oliver slowly places Zari's totem back into her hands. He then raises out his hand in a gesture of friendship.

“Deal?”

Felicity then cozies up to him, places her arm on his shoulder, and says with a grin, “This is the part where you get sold. I've been on your side of this conversation, and it's worked like a charm. Hope I'm right this time!”

Zari timidly smiles, and after a couple of seconds, she raises her right hand and firmly grasps Oliver's. A warm smile comes to Oliver's face. Just like that, he's gained a new partner in his crusade.

Zari says, “Alright then. I'll bite. It's not like I've got anything to lose anyway.”

“Welcome to the team, Zari,” comes the reply from Oliver.

Nervousness fills Zari's eyes, and she replies, “Yeah, as long as I don't have to wear a ridiculous costume. Tights and me don't mesh well together.”

Felicity wraps her other arm around Zari's shoulder and chirps, “Uh, we can't guarantee that. Cool costumes is kind of our thing. You'd be surprised with the awesome gear we have.”

Zari rolls her eyes at the thought of suiting up. Oliver just laughs at the joke which is so quintessentially Felicity.

This should be fun.


	3. Getting Into the Flow

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Zari reflects on how she has adjusted into Team Arrow and shares an emotional and personal tale with Felicity.
> 
> Also, she gets her first mission in the field.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you guys like this new chapter. Wrote this one rather quickly!

So being a part of Team Arrow has been more interesting than it seemed at first, Zari thinks. In the last four weeks, she's found her life going through an amazing transformation. First of all, Oliver insisted that she help Felicity in quarterbacking while he teaches her to better handle herself in the field. And Felicity's been one of the best friends she could ask for. A total computer geek like her. Zari's helped improve some of Felicity's data-crunching algorithms and modified them to run on stronger hardware. And to top it all, girl's nights out with Felicity have given her a sense of peace that she hasn't found in a while.

On another front, Oliver has spared no expense in getting her integrated with the rest of the team and their cover life. On the day-job front, he's put her in charge of coordinating welfare programs for the Glades. Now she can help the disadvantaged people of the city in more than one way. 

Field training has been no walk in the park. Zari insisted that she didn't need a boot camp; her hand-to-hand skills are pretty up to the mark, and her totem can help the team blow through any trouble. But Oliver insists that the strength of her totem can be a wild card at times, and she needs to have a more diverse skill-set in case things get out of hand. So on one hand, he's trying to help her make her wind powers be more surgical and precise, and on the other, he's tested her in different kinds of weaponry to see what works the best for her. Unfortunately, archery's not really been her cup of tea, but she's gotten quite fond of eskrima sticks. Oliver's grueling sessions with bastons have sharpened her focus and dexterity, and she feels like she can handle herself out in the field with others now.

The rest of Team Arrow has been an ... interesting lot to say the least. Despite being a fellow tech nerd like her, she still hasn't gotten used to Curtis's brand of humor. Evelyn's a bit too self-righteous for her own good. Rene tried to object to working with a “freak”. One wind blast later, he learned his lesson to keep his mouth shut, and they hadn't had problems after that. But John Diggle and Rory Regan have been nice enough fellows though. She could tell they'd both been through a lot yet still managed to keep up their positive attitudes towards life.

Today, she finds herself sitting in the bunker with Felicity, doing some research on some new gangsters from Blüdhaven looking to make their mark in Star City. A random question from Felicity throws her off.

“Hey, I've always been meaning to ask something. Where did you get that totem from?”

A lump forms in Zari's throat. The story of the totem around her neck brings back painful memories from back home. Memories of death and failure. She usually doesn't like talking about how her family died, but she's been opening up in the presence of Team Arrow lately, and she can't bring herself to tell kind, soft Felicity to mind her own business.

So she takes a deep breath and says, “There are parts of it I don't know myself. My brother Behrad found it somewhere once during an exchange program in Zambezi. He says he just got … drawn to it. He brought it back, and after that moment, he used it to fight Kahndaq's injustices.”

Zari tears up briefly; the next part is painful for her. But she feels Felicity's soft, comforting hand on her shoulder. Felicity has her back. She decides to continue.

“Then, when the Kahndaq authorities came for us, they riddled him with bullets before he even had a chance to react. A-as he took his last breaths, he handed this to me and told me to run. And I did. Leaving my whole family like that. So since then, I've been trying to use this totem to do good. To help others like he did. So that I can become worthy of carrying on his legacy.”

A few moments of silence follow. This is the first time she's been really open about her past in a while. But it does feel good to get this off her chest.

Felicity breaks the silence by saying, “Hey. Your brother would be real proud of you. You have done so much to help people since you've come here. And you have survived so much. Why else would we want you to be a part of our hero squad? You are stronger than you know, and you're going to rock with us.”

Zari wipes her tears and retorts with a scoff, “Do they give out certificates in pep talks at MIT? They didn't the last time I checked.”

Just as the two of them are laughing, the computer beeps; their search and hacking algorithms have yielded some interesting information about the Halcones branch from Blüdhaven. Zari's stomach lurches as Felicity reads out the details.

“So according to this, the Halcones are pulling off a deal with Roger Henderson, a dealer with heavy ties to McLennan-Starkwood. These texts have Henderson mentioning that the 'boss' will be coming to check on this shipment himself. That it's the last deal until he goes dark. You think this could be Alan Hodges?”

Zari's heart starts beating heavily. Alan Hodges has gone underground ever since that day Oliver recruited her. Apparently Curtis and Felicity were able to find evidence tying him to stuff even his lawyers couldn't smart-talk him out of. And now he's surfaced again. Zari's blood boils. She can't let him get away again. 

But things have changed now that she's become a part of Team Arrow. She can't approach this the same way she would have four weeks ago. She wants to just tear off out of the bunker and put a hurt on Hodges like he's never known before. But there's no way Oliver would let her out in the field with her personal vendetta. Plus, she's only just gained Team Arrow's trust. She doesn't want them to turn on her again. About a half hour later, she and Felicity fill in the rest of the team on the situation.

Oliver announces, “Alright then. This looks like the ideal opportunity to strike. Hodges will be there, and so will the Halcones. We take them both down; we take two major players off the board.”

Oliver then turns to Zari and surprises her with his next words.

“You ready for your first field mission?”

Zari blinks in disbelief. She can't believe Oliver's willing to let her come along on a mission. Especially on an op that's so personal to her.

“You sure you want me on this? After what happened the first time we met?” Zari asks shakily.

Oliver smiles and replies, “Yes. I trust you to have our backs out there. There's going to be a lot of firepower out there, and we're going to need all the back-up we can get for this one.”

Zari smiles and stands up, confidence surging through every vein. Then she suddenly remembers a small detail.

“There's just one thing. I don't have a suit.”

“I've got you covered there,” comes the reply from Curtis, who's running up to her with a case in hand and an expression of glee on his face. 

“Actually Cisco's got you covered there. He's the go-to guy when it comes to costumes. Super-elastic interior which grants you a lot of flexibility. Plus a Kevlar coating which should shield you from most bullets on the street. And the mask's got a special fabric that's coded to your fingerprints specifically, so if a bad guy tries to unmask you, it's 50,000 volts and nap time for them. And there's more-”

Zari stops him with a smirk and replies, “Thanks for the run-down, Curtis. I'll look at the manual.” She slowly opens the case. The suit is primarily black with golden stripes running down the sides. She runs her fingers over every inch, letting the smoothness of the fabric soothe her. Up till now, she's only dreamed of going out in the field. Actually running around in superhero tights has always felt a bit ostentatious to her. But now actually seeing the suit and the effort put in to make it, she's actually feeling much better about it. Now she can fully be a part of the team.

She looks in another corner of the case and sees two collapsible batons. Clearly Oliver's been keeping her fighting strengths in mind. She picks one up and extends it all the way. There's a button on the side, and when she presses it, she feels a light vibration throughout her body and sees light blue tendrils of electricity hovering over the baton's tip. So it's a baton AND a taser combined in one. Now this is what she likes.

Finally, her eyes hover over to the mask. It's black, like most of the suit, with a single gold stripe running across the center. She sees two protrusions from the top, above the eyes. They look unusually like - 

“Are those actually cat ears?” she asks in disbelief, looking up at Oliver with her mouth gaping.

Oliver blushes and answers, “Don't look at me. Curtis is the one who put in that detail.”

Zari glares back at Curtis, astonished that he'd add something so childish to her uniform's look.

Curtis stammers, “W-well, I figured that since you like cats, I might as well make you one of them. I mean, you kind of remind me of one, the way you get into catfights with Felicity and all.” He makes a clawing motion with his hands, but he quickly realizes that another one of his jokes has not really hit hard. He quickly stops talking and walks away, mumbling about getting dressed. Zari smiles to herself. The mask isn't as bad as she thought. And yes, it does go along with her love for felines.

Oliver walks up to her and says softly, “You good?”

Zari looks up, now resolute. Oliver has so much faith in her, and she has no intention of letting him down now.

“Yeah I'm good.”

Oliver smiles and says, “Then you know what it's time to do.”

Zari smirks and then repeats the same phrase that gets the whole team charged up.

“Suit up!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please leave your comments down below. Hope I've done justice to the characters!

**Author's Note:**

> Trying to explore how Oliver and Zari would interact if they met each other. Let me know your thoughts. Any constructive feedback is appreciated!


End file.
